The present invention relates to a safety belt for vehicles and more particularly to a safety belt retractor which is vehicle-sensitive. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to an improved support means for a vehicle-sensitive mechanism, such as a pendulum assembly, of a retractor. A vehicle sensitive mechanism responds to motion of the vehicle, as distinguished from motion of the safety belt. The improved support means supports the vehicle sensitive mechanism in a desired position, even under conditions where the retractor must be tilted out of the verticle plane for purposes of installation in the vehicle, such as when the retractor is positioned on the back of a seat in the vehicle.
Prior art apparatus for supporting a vehicle sensitive mechanism are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,995,788 entitled "Vehicle Sensitive Retractor with Improved Universal Pendulum and Gimbal" 3,913,861 entitled "Vehicle Sensitive Retractor with Double Pendulum" 3,938,755 entitled "Vehicle Sensitive Retractor with Enclosed Double Pendulum" all filed on July 10, 1974, in the name of R. L. Stephenson, R. Pfeiffer and Y. Loomba. U.S. Pat. No. 3,552,676 to Weber discloses a different apparatus for supporting a pendulum.